Team

Ian Nicholson

President

Ian is a senior at Hunter College High School. He is a US Chess Expert who has placed in the top-ten nationally on several occasions and finished 4th place in the 2023 New York State Scholastic High School Championship, leading his school to a state championship. He is passionate about deploying chess to build community and promote access to education. Beyond the board, Ian captains his school's soccer team and is involved in scientific research.

Jed Sloan

Vice President

Jed is a senior at Stuyvesant High School and is a USCF National Master, FIDE Candidate Master, and 2 times scholastic Grade National Champion. He is also the co-captain of the Stuyvesant Chess Team and an experienced chess tutor and ski racing coach. Outside of chess, Jed is a starter for the Stuyvesant Varsity Tennis Team and a member of the Stuyvesant Math Team and Math Modeling Club. 

Harper Wallace

Vice President

Harper is a junior at CGPS and has played competitive chess since second grade. He has been ranked among the top 100 players in the country for my age multiple times, with a peak rating of 1980. Some of his achievements include being part of the high school national championship team this year and winning the U1900 section at High School Nationals as an individual. He also plays for a club soccer team and runs varsity cross country and track. 

Eugene Choi Yoo

Founder

Eugene is the founder of NYC Chess Connections. He is a FIDE Master and currently studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also a recipient of the US Chess Federation Scholar-Chessplayer Award and the Chessable Research Award. In his free time, Eugene enjoys running and playing the violin.

Bhavya Thakur

Director of Outreach

Bhavya is a sophomore at Trinity School and has played chess for over 11 years, reaching a peak rating of 1818. She has achieved numerous top-ten national and regional finishes in tournaments, consistently ranking in the USCF top player lists for girls her age. Aside from chess, she is an avid roboticist, coder, and debater.

Max Chang

Director of Tutoring Program

Max is a rising sophomore at Hunter College High School. He has been playing chess since the age of seven, reaching a peak ELO of 2026 and helping to lead his grade team to a national title on four separate occasions. Besides chess, Max also enjoys playing tennis and watching soccer. 

Michael Li

Director of Social Media

Michael is a sophomore at Jericho High School on Long Island. A National Master at thirteen, he has since gone on to win the NY State Scholastics undefeated, represent the United States in Brazil, reaching a top-six national ranking. Michael is also a cellist studying at Juilliard and avid Lincoln-Douglas debater.

Alexi de la Nuez

Director of Events

Alexi is a senior at Brooklyn Technical High School who has played chess for over a decade. His is the Vice-President of BTHS’s Chess Team,  where he has captained three team victories at the NYS Scholastic High School Championships. Outside of chess, he enjoys soccer with his school team and serves as captain of his club team.

Hunter Quirk

Hunter Choi Quirk is a sophomore at Hunter College High School. He has been playing chess competitively for over 7 years. His other interests include reading (both comic books and novels) and volunteering for organizations. 

Maddy Eng

Maddy is a junior at Trinity School. She began learning chess in elementary school and continues to enjoy bullet chess. In addition, Maddy enjoys creating digital art, debating, and running track and field.

Kolby Sahin

Kolby is a current student at The Roxbury Latin School. He enjoys playing chamber and jazz music, debating, running cross country, pole vaulting for track & field, and playing board #3 on the chess team. He's very excited to be on the NYCCC team, which shares the game of chess with others.

Lucas Moina

Lucas Moina is a freshman at Hunter College High School. He has been playing chess competitively for 7 years. Lucas was part of the team winning 2025 K-8 championships. Outside of chess Lucas loves to play soccer and is fascinated with geography.

Aditeya Das

diteya Das (“Adi”) is a freshman at Stuyvesant High School and a FIDE Master (FM) in chess, a game he has loved since second grade. He is a two-time US Chess Grade Nationals gold medalist (7th and 9th grade). For multiple years, Adi has been consistently ranked among the top five players in the nation for his age group, as published by US Chess.

Lucien Jaccon

 Lucien Jaccon is a sophomore at Hunter College High School. He has a peak USCF rating of 1699 and began playing chess competitively during COVID. He has competed on school teams that achieved top 5 placements in national events. Outside of chess, he enjoys running, playing with his cat, and learning math.

Bryson Wolf

Bryson is a rising 9th grader at Hunter High School. He has helped lead his Hunter chess team to win six nationals. Bryson started playing when he was 6 years old. In his free time, he plays travel baseball and school soccer.

David Shen

David is a junior who has been playing chess competitively since he was in elementary school and currently represents the CGPS chess team. With his school winning multiple national championships. David has a peak rating of 1809 and hopes to reach 2000 USCF by the end of high school, and has been an NYCCC tutor since 2024.

Sarah Gupta

Sara is a senior at the Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas. Since the age of 5, she’s been playing chess competitively and has won gold at the Pan- American & North American championships. Outside of chess, she enjoys orchestra, taking care of animals and Model UN.

Lucas Fugate

Lucas is a student at Hunter College High School, and has been playing chess for the past few years. They have reached a peak rating of 2350 on Chess.com, and have been part of high finishes for their school team. Outside of chess, they pursue robotics, basketball, economics, and track.

Riju Bhattacharjee

Riju is a sophomore at Brooklyn Technical High School. He has been playing chess ever since he was eight and has achieved a peak of around 1800 USCF. Outside of chess, Riju enjoys hanging out with friends and is an avid member of the Brooklyn Tech math team.

Dylan Shlachter

Dylan is a sophmore at Brooklyn Technical high school. He has played chess ever since he was 5 years old. He also enjoys playing guitar, reading, and golfing in his free time. He is very excited to continue to teach kids in playing chess and help teach the future of chess.

Nathan Peyton

Nathan Peyton is a freshman at Brooklyn Technical High School. He has consistently been ranked as a top 100 chess player in the United States for his age since he began playing in kindergarten. His peak USCF and FIDE ratings are 2058 and 1958, respectively. Outside of chess, Nathan enjoys playing basketball and flag football recreationally.

Fiona Tushman

Fiona is a Freshman at Hunter College High School. She has been playing chess competitively for over 8 years. She is currently ranked 33rd in girls aged 14 in the world. Her other interests involve reading, math, and soccer on her school team.

Nikhil Shah

Nikhil is a sophmore at Brooklyn Technical High School who has been playing chess for over 12 years. He has a peak rating of 1858 and has place 13th at supernationals in the u1900. Outside of chess Nikhil enjoys playing badminton and tennis.

Spencer Chin

Spencer Chin is a junior at Bronx Science that enjoys mentoring students in chess. He achieved the National Master title in 2024, and hopes to help others achieve higher levels of chess. Spencer enjoys basketball and badminton in his free time, as well as content creation.

Gavin Liu

Gavin is a current sophomore at High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology who started playing at the age of 8, with a peak USCF rating of 1928, who’s main goal is to reach 2000 USCF. He is also part of the Chess-in-the-schools program as a tournament assistant.

Seojin Park

Seojin Park is a rising 9th grader at Hunter College High School. He has been playing competitive chess for nearly three years and has a peak USCF rating of 1662. Outside of chess, they participate in junior orchestra, practice Taekwondo, and enjoy playing badminton.

David Gelpi

David Gelpi is a senior at Columbia Secondary School. In his free time, he likes playing soccer and video games. Recently he’s hit a peak rating of 2270 on chess.com. He’s particularly interested in pursuing computer science in college.

Dominic Paragua

Dominic Nathan Paragua is a junior at Columbia Grammar Preparatory School. He is a USCF Expert with a peak rating of 2132. He is currently top 100 in every time control in his age group. Outside of chess, he likes learning to cook, and creating YouTube videos.

Anderson Woo

Anderson Woo is currently attending CGPS. He started playing chess seriously in the 6th grade and now has a rating of over 1800. He has been on numerous teams that have placed in the Top 3 at the National Chess Championships. Besides chess, Anderson also enjoys playing tennis and the clarinet.

Owen Morrow

I am Owen Morrow, an 8th grader at Hunter College High School. I have been playing chess for almost 6 years and have participated in many tournaments. My school team has won first place in numerous national events. Outside of the world of chess, I love playing tennis and swimming. In my free time, I read and play chess.

Naveen Paruchuri

Naveen is an 11th grader at Avenues. He is a strong chess player who leads his Avenues Chess Club and is the captain for his K-12 chess team. He also tutors students in his building looking to learn chess. He is a great person to be around always full of joy.

Rohan Lee

Rohan Lee is a freshman at Brooklyn Technical High School. He is a USCF Candidate Master with a peak rating of 2152 USCF and 2046 FIDE respectively. He is also currently ranked in the top 35 for his age in the US. Outside of chess, he likes to do art and play sports like soccer, basketball, cross country, and tennis.

Shawn Chen 

Shawn is a 11th grade student at Stuyvesant Highschool. He likes listening to music, reading and playing chess. He had a peak elo of 1860.  He also has various experiences in terms of volunteering with 50+ hrs in chess related programs.

Arhan Javeri

Arhan Javeri is a freshman at Columbia Prep School. He has a peak USCF rating of 2023 and has been playing chess since the age of 7. He has placed in the top 15 at multiple national tournaments. he also plays tennis and baseball in school.

Jordy Leon

Jordy Leon is currently attending Stuyvesant High School. He enjoys helping people whenever possible. He has been playing chess for 9 years. He has been as high as 11th place in national tournaments. He also a member of the Stuyvesant Soccer and Math teams.

        Nicholas Bear

Nicholas Bear is a high school sophomore at Trinity School, who has been playing chess for 9 years. He has achieved a peak rating of 1841 USCF. Outside of chess, Nicholas plays competitive tennis and enjoys researching politics, foreign affairs, and learning new languages.

Ryan Saavedra

Ryan is a chess and soccer player and a co-founder of the chess club at Bard High School Early College Bronx. Ryan is a tournament director for Chess In schools. He also likes to stay active and loves to hangout with others!

Kevin Stern

Kevin Stern is a 9th grader at the Dalton School. His major chess achievement includes winning the United States Amateur Team East tournament (USATE). He is extremely passionate about the game and has teaching experience. Outside of chess, Kevin likes to play basketball and saxophone.

Christian Bartolini

Christian Bartolini is a risig 9th grader at Hunter College High School. His peak USCF rating is 1721, and he has been playing chess since the age of 6. He has been a member of several national championship-winning chess teams. Some of his favorite hobbies include soccer and volleyball.

Oliver Chung

Oliver Chung is a experienced player from Brooklyn Tech. Oliver has been playing chess since 2018. Oliver teaches by learning a student’s personality and translating it into their play style while keeping everything simple, fun, and effective.

Maxime Jaccon

Maxime Jaccon is a sophomore at Hunter College High School. He has been playing chess competitively since COVID. His other interests include swimming, math and coding.

Michael Korvyakov

Michael is a junior at Georgetown University studying business and politics. He's founded two startups, Campaign Crafters and The Petition Co. In his free time, he runs marathons and learns computers.

Maxwell Massiah

Maxwell is a freshman at Harvard University. He recently graduated from the Dalton School and is currently trying to reach a rating of 2000 USCF. He also likes to play basketball, lacrosse, and percussion. 

Jenny Zhu

Jenny is a freshman at Harvard University. She is ranked number 4 nationally for female chess players aged 16 with a peak rating of 2106. She has extensive experience in teaching young kids and loves sharing her knowledge.

Toshinori Underwood

Toshi is a USCF National Master who recently graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School. He likes to travel and play basketball and chess. He will be attending Colby College in the fall.

Krish Bhandari

Krish is a freshman at the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University. He won 3rd place at the 2023 Pan-American U16 section and is currently a FIDE Candidate Master.

Timothy Ng

Tim is a freshman at University of California, Berkeley.  His peak rating is 2048 and he's currently ranked top 100 in the country for his age.  In his free time, he enjoys fencing and surfing.

Kyle Lancman

Kyle is a freshman at the University of Chicago. Since 2022, he has been a US Chess National Master and playing tournaments all around the world. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School.

Kiren Nasta

Kiren is a chess national master who is currently taking a gap year before attending Harvard University. He has been playing chess for 13 years, and had numerous top 5 placements in scholastic championships such as a top 3 in grade nationals and scholastic states during his senior year. 

Maddie Lykouretzos

Maddie is a junior at Yale University. She's currently studying neuroscience and helped design the logo for NYC Chess Connections!

Winston Qin

Winston Qin is a rising sophomore at Columbia University studying Electrical Engineering. He runs a professional photography and filmmaking business at WinstonPX.com. In his free time he plays soccer, goes on trail runs, and is a volunteer bird rescuer.